


To Fight For The One You Love

by afteriwake



Series: The Summer Of 100 Surprise Stories - Summer 2018 [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alien Planet, Alien Technology, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Space, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Assassination Plot(s), Bruises, Conversations, Developing Relationship, Early Mornings, Explanations, F/M, Ghosts Are Energy Beings, Injured Khan Noonien Singh, Injured Molly Hooper, Inspired by books, Khan Has Super Strength, Khan is a Businessman, Molly Has Healing Abilities, Molly May Be An Augment, Molly Triggers Traps For Hunters, Molly is a Doctor, Non Canonical Immortal, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Khan Noonien Singh, Pets, Stress Baking, alien tombs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-18 03:13:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14844563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: Something is peculiar about his flatmate, Molly Hooper. In a new world where nearly everyone has a superhuman ability of some sort, Molly seems...different. And she arrives home early in the morning all beat up to Hell. What is she doing?Khan is determined to find out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theconsultingstrangevidder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theconsultingstrangevidder/gifts).



> So this is a fic that sprung forth from a surprise prompt claimed by **theconsultingstrangevidder** (“ _87 - Khanolly - 'I’m your roommate and you keep coming home at the ass-crack of dawn exhausted and covered in bruises, are you okay?'_ ”) that for some reason made me immediately think of a series Jayne Castle writes where these people left Earth to go to a new planet and developed interesting powers once they couldn't go back to Earth. So this will be multiple chapters exploring the relationship developing between Khan and Molly going from roommates to friends to more, and there will be other characters from their fandoms involved, but I haven't decided who yet or how they will come into play.

He knew what superhuman strength felt like. He had it. He was almost 100% sure that his flatmate did _not_.

And yet she came back at the oddest hours, covered in bruises and cuts and scrapes, taking great pains to hide it from him. And then she would act as though everything was fine, even as there were traces of lingering bruises on her fair skin.

In a world where anyone could have any kind of powers one could imagine, it was...interesting.

One of the many things that made Molly Hooper so interesting to him.

And, he supposed it made him worry. He wasn’t particularly heroically inclined; in fact, many would say, in a different time and place, he would have been the villain. Earth, perhaps, with their history of comics showing super-powered villains such as Bane or the occasionally drug-induced super-powering of Lex Luthor. That had been a man he could relate to, in some ways. But he usually was only violent in self-defense, or in defense of those he cared for, the diverse group of people he considered his family.

Perhaps that included Molly, too, if she would let him do so.

This new planet, where the vestiges of humanity had traveled to when Earth had been basically destroyed, where only the most insane stayed as the environment decided it had had enough of humanity and became a danger to those staying, had granted all its inhabitants unique advantages they had not had on Earth. Here in New London, there seemed to be an exorbitant amount of people with super strength, such as himself.

And though he was loathe to use it, not wanting to delve into baser instincts as he felt it best left behind on Earth, he would use it if Molly needed it.

He was still not entirely sure how they had been thrown together. Molly had been a pathologist in another part of Harmony, but here in New London she put her basic medical skills to use and ran a clinic for those who had come with very little. Various members of his family had been in and out of her clinic and he appreciated it and the work she did at keeping them alive. When he heard she was sleeping in her office because her home had been ransacked, he invited her to stay with him. He was one of those who had come with some wealth and stature, and so his home was big enough to house both of them as well as various members of his family if needed.

He had made sure she got as many of her belongings back as possible, but she seemed content to stay with him. Why, he wasn’t sure...but he was very much wanting to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

She was rotating her head to stretch her neck the morning after he’d stayed up late into the night, thinking of her. In more ways than just concern, he had come to realize, and it had left him with restless sleep and an air of irritability this morning that he knew his assistant would catch. But for Molly, no irritability, especially as there were bruises on her arms in the shape of fingers, the palm prints and finger marks large enough to be a man’s.

“What do you do each night?” he asked, his voice almost like a purr, startling her as he came up behind her.

“I do what I need to do to survive,” she said, speaking in almost a huff as if she was offended he even ask. “I go to the tombs and trigger the traps for the Hunters if you must know. Nothing can kill me, it just hurts for a moment.”

His eyes widened at that. The planet that they had all escaped to had been inhabited by a race that had seemingly abandoned it, leaving behind elaborate structures that always glowed a soft green, though brighter at night than during the day. He had no idea she was involved in the sordid and sometimes shady business of the hunters, and that explained why her home had been ransacked.

“There’s no need to do that, you know. I can support your clinic if you wish,” he said, his fingers lightly ghosting over the bruises on her arm. “The Hunters aren’t…?”

She flushed. “The bruises are from them pulling me from the traps to safety. I keep _telling_ my crew that I’m effectively immortal, but they don’t want to take the chance, not when I’m the one with the most medical knowledge if things go south.” She flushed as she said it because his implication had indeed been that they were not taking advantage of her sexually. He didn’t like the idea of her being taken by force, even by him, and he was the type to act first and ask later when those impulses took over, though usually no more than heady kissing. He knew the difference between consensual and non-consensual acts.

“So super healing was your gift from this world,” he asked, moving his finger off her skin.

“Yes. There was an accident. I took a scalpel to the femoral artery and even though I bled I could still function. Out of curiosity, I pulled the scalpel out and the wound healed on its own. I think short of decapitation I can live through...well, anything.”

That was curious. She was like he was on Earth, it seemed, though he wondered if her blood had similar curative properties as he had. Perhaps he would tell her more later, but for now, he wanted her to be safe. His family, the ones not as well off, who insisted they could survive on this planet by themselves, needed her services and he…

Well, perhaps he simply needed her.

“Do you need an extra hand?” he asked and she looked up at him in surprise. “I got most of your items back, but knowing what you do means someone was looking for something. I can only keep you safe so far here and at the clinic; if you go into the tombs I can’t.”

“I can take care of myself, you know,” she replied.

“Then why do you stay with me?” he asked, tilting his head as he looked at her.

“Because it’s...because I...” She shook her head and went back to the task of kneading bread. He had noticed she started every day by making something baked and he had to admit, it made this place seem more homelike. He had never really had a home before, not even on Earth, and this made it feel as though there was a reason to stay.

Though it was not as if they could return to Earth. Only three-quarters of the ships had made it through the portal to this world when the portals unexpectedly closed, stranding the original settlers here on the planet known as Harmony. While most of the enclaves had settled to new rules regarding marriages and relationships, meant to keep the obedience of those in the land, those who settled in New London had rebelled. They were the British contingent; it was to be expected. Marriage was still the norm, but children born as bastards did not mean the couple must form or stay in a union.

He himself had been one of those types of children on Earth, and so through his own effective immortality, he had outlived most of the original settlers, made himself an important man. The Augments such as himself had integrated themselves in New London society, and they had made things better for those children left behind. He went by John Harrison here, a businessman and philanthropist who was a mystery to most. But not, it seemed, to Molly. He looked at her and then nodded. It was home here for the both of them, not just him.

“When did you stop aging?” he asked.

She chuckled a bit, glad for the change in topic. “Twenty years ago. I hit my mid-thirties and then just seemed to not age a day. I’m in my fifties now, but am as spry and sharp as a twenty-year-old.”

“I’m quite similar,” he said. “Though admittedly, much older.”

She tilted her head and gave him a quizzical look. “How old, exactly?”

“I was among the first settlers on Harmony,” he said simply. Her eyes widened at that and her jaw dropped. Not many people knew the truth, but since he had gotten an answer from her that she was, indeed, more like him than he had initially realized, and he trusted her, he felt she should know the truth. “I worked the tombs in Old Cadence, made my fortunes as a Hunter, then came here when New London was established by those who wanted more freedom.”

“I...see,” she said. “Christ, that means you’re...old.”

“I am different than many of the other settlers from Earth. I am known in Old Earth history as an Augment. There was much going on but when the Earth was destroyed myself and those like me joined among the exploration, leading others to space. We were among the few non-humans to get through the portal before it closed.”

“There are others?” she asked.

“Some of the very founders of New London,” he replied. “We had been persecuted and banished, but we were, and still are, quite fair. The original purpose for which we were augmented has passed and we’ve settled. We keep those that use their planet gifted powers for wickedness at bay, for the most part. We work with the guilds in other cities and in some cases hold positions in the background at the highest offices, if we don’t hold those high positions outright. I was a leader once, but I’m content to protect those who have no protection now.”

“Your philanthropic work, helping me keep the clinic open,” she said.

“I saw the cruelty of man. I was cruel, for a time. I have learned the error of my ways, and as we have no way back to Earth, if it’s even hospitable, we’ve made ourselves a place here. You may have heard tales of the immortals? That’s essentially what we are. We have eternal youth, super healing. We can be killed but it’s very hard.” He nodded towards her. “You may be the child of an augment yourself. It was theorized our genetic compatibility with regular humans would allow us to pass our genetic line forward, though most refuse to have children with non-augments.”

“So my healing ability...it’s not from the planet?” Molly asked.

“Perhaps not. But that means you could still have an ability, or have one you don’t realize yet.” He watched as her dust bunny Toby jumped up on her shoulder, chittering the way all dust bunnies did. Her ball of fluff was a bright orange, almost like the ginger cats of Old Earth. She reached over and gave it a cookie, and it hopped off her shoulder and then over to him. “Molly gave you a cookie, Toby. Finish that one and I’ll give you another.”

Molly smiled, the first one she had given him since the conversation started. “You’re going to spoil him.”

“I’d spoil you if you’d let me,” he said simply.

“Maybe,” she said. “But...if you’re serious about finding out why my home was vandalized, we have another tomb to get into tonight. I leave at midnight.”

He nodded. “I’ll come with you, then.”

“Alright. Now I need to finish this bread and let it start to rise for the day, and then off to work I go. I suppose if you want to spoil me you can start by updating my examination suites?”

He came over and took her flour-covered hand, kissing the back of it. “Your wish is my command.” With that, he let go of her hand and made his way to his office. There was work to do and more research to put into who would go after a full-time doctor/part-time tomb trap diffuser and why, and he only had until midnight today to start on it.


	3. Chapter 3

He changed into the gear that most Hunters wore: tight T-shirt, khaki trousers with cargo pockets, sturdy boots...many Hunters had stones on them to help focus on the ghosts that were there, though not the typical kind of Old Earth lore. The ghosts of this world were made of some sort of energy. If Molly was springing traps then that meant she was interacting with the ghosts and taking whatever each particular one could dish out, and it varied from ghost to ghost.

She was a fool, but at least she had her priorities straight. Keep the clinic running at all costs, no matter what it did to her.

Most people had no idea how any of the technology in the tombs worked, what little had been brought to the surface. It had been theorized that the tunnels of a tomb in, say Old Cadence could run through to the ones in Old Manchester if someone was willing to get lost in the mazes to see. But the tombs were vast and the area by the “old” parts of London had hidey-holes and whatnot in them. It was not a safe place for anyone, especially someone as soft as Molly.

Perhaps she had a spine of steel he had not seen yet.

He put on a hat, a fitted baseball cap from the Old Earth sport. He had never been a fan, but replicas of the pop culture of Ancient Earth, farther back than even he had been living, was much like it was when they’d had to leave Earth for Harmony. The logos had changed of course, but certain symbols were still popular even all this time later, such as the trees on his hat. He hadn’t seen a pine tree since he was a child and it took time to recollect what one even smelled like.

These were days he felt ancient, as if the weight of all the years on Harmony and the years on Earth had rolled into a solid weight settled on his shoulders. He had given up this life long ago in the renegade times, turned his life around and stopped letting violence beget violence. If those who had created the Augments were alive to see them now he thought they would be utterly shocked at how well they had integrated into a peaceful culture and kept it at peace.

Some of his kind had special powers beyond what Augments and this planet had given them, and they were especially dangerous. He hoped he wasn’t dealing with any of them. He had never received any certain powers from the planet except an increase in his strength, but he was still a fearsome fighter, even in what felt like his old age.

He hoped he did not have cause to make that known.

As John Harrison, he made to be seen in public events in well-tailored suits so he had no doubt in the Hunter gear no one would notice him. He didn’t care if Molly knew he had been a Hunter hundreds of years in the past, but among Hunters themselves he wanted to stay as low profile as possible, especially if talk of Guilds crept up. He had helped build the Guild in New London, and then retreated and let Joaquin take the lead. He ran it well, and Joaquin was aware that Molly worked for a Guild authorized team derezzing the ghosts that the others could not, but he possibly was not aware that he himself was on the team tonight.

Joaquin would not be happy but he could deal with it.

“Name?” the man guarding the entrance to the tomb said.

“Last name Singh. First name Khan,” he said. He had not been referred to by that name for so long he wasn’t sure anyone other than his fellow augments would recognize it, and if that was how Joaquin found out he was dropping in on a dig, so be it.”

“You don’t look...”

“Adoption,” he replied, and the man nodded in understanding. The loosened rules regarding children and marriages in New London meant that bastards abounded, but there were surprisingly many philanthropists of many national origins residing in New London who would adopt an orphan. He himself had never been tempted, mostly because any orphans he would have chosen refused to leave the streets. He housed them as best he could, fed them, got them an education...tried to get them as lives as close to normal as possible.

Tried to help them survive and perhaps even thrive.

He went into the encampment outside the tomb and looked for Molly. He had no idea whether her crew would be going into the tunnels tonight, as this tomb had multiple entrances where none of them seemed to connect. From what she had told him when she had returned home and they had had a light supper, her team only went into the tunnels with the ghosts that couldn’t be derezzed. She did part-time work, only six hours a night, four nights a week, but she went in to clear out any rough spots.

It could kill her even if she was immortal, but she had decided the clinic was worth her life. As he had thought before, she was a fool, but she had her priorities straight.

He saw Molly and tipped the bill of his hat towards her, getting a nod of recognition in return before she turned back to her conversation, and then he opened up his specialized Augment senses. When he was on a hunt, so to speak, he took everything in. And with the new knowledge that Molly was most likely in danger because of this job as opposed to the clinic, what he was on the hunt for was information.

And he would be damned if he didn’t find it.


End file.
